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An armoured marine reptile from the Early Triassic of South China and its phylogenetic and evolutionary implications.
- Source :
-
ELife [Elife] 2023 Aug 08; Vol. 12. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Aug 08. - Publication Year :
- 2023
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Abstract
- Sauropterygia was a taxonomically and ecomorphologically diverse clade of Mesozoic marine reptiles spanning the Early Triassic to the Late Cretaceous. Sauropterygians are traditionally divided into two groups representing two markedly different body plans - the short-necked, durophagous Placodontia and the long-necked Eosauropterygia - whereas Saurosphargidae, a small clade of armoured marine reptiles, is generally considered as the sauropterygian sister-group. However, the early evolutionary history of sauropterygians and their phylogenetic relationships with other groups within Diapsida are still incompletely understood. Here, we report a new saurosphargid from the Early Triassic (Olenekian) of South China - Prosaurosphargis yingzishanensis gen. et sp. nov. - representing the earliest known occurrence of the clade. An updated phylogenetic analysis focussing on the interrelationships among diapsid reptiles recovers saurosphargids as nested within sauropterygians, forming a clade with eosauropterygians to the exclusion of placodonts. Furthermore, a clade comprising Eusaurosphargis and Palatodonta is recovered as the sauropterygian sister-group within Sauropterygomorpha tax. nov. The phylogenetic position of several Early and Middle Triassic sauropterygians of previously uncertain phylogenetic affinity, such as Atopodentatus , Hanosaurus , Majiashanosaurus, and Corosaurus , is also clarified, elucidating the early evolutionary assembly of the sauropterygian body plan. Finally, our phylogenetic analysis supports the placement of Testudines and Archosauromorpha within Archelosauria, a result strongly corroborated by molecular data, but only recently recovered in a phylogenetic analysis using a morphology-only dataset. Our study provides evidence for the rapid diversification of sauropterygians in the aftermath of the Permo-Triassic mass extinction event and emphasises the importance of broad taxonomic sampling in reconstructing phylogenetic relationships among extinct taxa.<br />Competing Interests: AW, YS, QL, YS, YQ, YC, YH, JL No competing interests declared<br /> (© 2023, Wolniewicz et al.)
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 2050-084X
- Volume :
- 12
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- ELife
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 37551884
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.83163